Meena was born - Arvind Gupta

Meena is a little girl who lives in a village with her parents, her grandmother, her
brother Raju and her baby sister, Rani. Mithu, the parrot, is her best friend.
WN
In many ways, Meena is like any other little girl you know. She is friendly but is not afraid
to ask questions. ~• ~ • ȳf~ ~- ;w,~~ ~~ ••
Share in Meena’s adventures as she laughs, climbs trees, asks questions and solves
problems, and shows you all the things that a little girl can do.
= i
Mira Mitra
Zafrin Chowdhury
Sayeeda Begum
Indrani Chakma
Lutfur Rahman
Dr Quamrul Hasan
Professor Mamunur Rashid
Dr Waheedul Haque
Shaheen Sultana ' • ' i
Agatha Pratt
Purushottam Acharya
Artistic development • -
and character designs: Ram Mohan -
Research:
Research and Computing Services
Private Limited, Bangladesh
Deepa Balsavar . • 5
Harsha Mehta . ;
2

One morning, Meena was reading a story to Grandma and her baby sister Rani. Her
brother Raju, was helping Mother feed Lali, their cow.
Why are
you giving Lali
so much grass?
Lali is going to have
a baby, Raju. She needs lots
of good food so that she will give
birth to a healthy calf.
rYl • 5 •- a
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Meena wanted to know what Mother ate before Raju, Rani and she were born.

When Mother was pregnant with Meena, Grandma and Father made sure that she got
plenty of good food, orange and yellow fruits and fresh green leafy vegetables to eat. They
also made sure to use iodised salt in the food.
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They made Mother take plenty of rest and cared for her. If a pregnant woman eats healthy
food and rests well she gives birth to a healthy baby. Babies who are born small have less
chances of survival or to be healthy later in life.

Mother went for regular checkups at the health center.
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Since it is very important to have a skilled person to help at the delivery, the health worker
came to help with Meena’s birth.

Within minutes after Meena was born, she was given Mother’s first breast milk. The health
worker said that Mother’s milk was all Meena needed to be healthy and safe from childhood
diseases.

10
Meena was born so healthy because Mother ate good food and rested well when she was
pregnant. Father held her proudly to his chest a few minutes after she was born.

Grandma brought out pictures to show the children how healthy they were and how well
they had grown.
Was I
a healthy baby
too, Mamma?
You were all strong and healthy Raju.
And we have always given you
enough good food so that
you grow well.
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Mother showed them a picture of Meena when she was a little girl. She looked healthy
and happy.

The next picture was taken after Raju’s birth.
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Meena, Raju and Rani are all healthy children because Mother took care of herself when
she was pregnant. They remain healthy because Mother makes sure that they continue to
eat fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, dal and other healthy food!

Other titles in this series
1. Count Your Chickens
2. Dividing the Mango
3. Will Meena Leave School?
4. Who’s Afraid of the Bully?
5. Saving a Life
6. Meena’s Three Wishes
7. Say No to Dowry
8. Too Young to Marry
9. Take Care of Girls
10. I Love School
11. It’s Got to Be a Boy!
12. Meena in the City
13. A Girl’s Story
14. Learning to Love
15. Strangers in the Village
16. Reaching Out
17. Meena And Her Friend
18. It Could Happen to Anyone
19. The Girls Came Back
20. When Meena was a Little Girl
21. Seeing in the Dark
22. Health in your Hands
23. Safe from Worms
24. Baby Rani’s Four Visits
United Nations Children’s Fund Telephone: 977-1-4417082
Regional Office for South Asia
Facsimile 977-1-4418466 / 4419479
P. O. Box 5815
www.unicef.org
Lekhnath Marg
Kathmandu, Nepal
25. We Love Books!
26. Learning can be Fun!
27. Learning with Meena
28. School First, Marriage Later
29. Teacher Helps to Learn
30. Let’s Go to School Together
Also Available
* Meena Educational Package
* Video cassettes
* Radio Series
Copyright © 2004